The present invention relates to the field of integrated circuits and in particular, to a system on a programmable chip (SOPC) architecture where programmable logic and an embedded processor are incorporated in a single programmable logic integrated circuit to provide greater functionality and performance.
Integrated circuits are important building blocks of the modern age. Technology continues to evolve and integrated circuits continue to provide improved functionality. As integrated circuits improve, so do the electronics systems that are built using integrated circuits. There are many types of integrated circuit such as memories, microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and programmable logic. Programmable logic integrated circuits such as PALs, PLDs, FPGAs, LCAs, and others are becoming more complex and continually evolving to provide more user-programmable features on a single integrated circuit. Modern programmable logic integrated circuits incorporate programmable logic including logic gates, products terms, or look-up tables. Programmable logic integrated circuits also included embedded user-programmable memory or RAM.
Despite the success of programmable logic, there is a continuing desire to provide greater functionality in a programmable logic integrated circuit, but at the same time, provide greater performance. The programmable logic of a programmable logic integrated circuit may be configured to emulate a processor, such as an Intel microprocessor or other central processing unit (CPU). However, when a processor implemented in programmable logic, that programmable logic cannot be used for other purposes, and also the performance of a hardware-implemented processor is still greater. Incorporating an embedded processor within a programmable logic integrated circuit will provide users with greater functionality and allow functionality not available when only programmable logic is available.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a programmable logic integrated circuit having an embedded processor.